


Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

by aschicca



Category: Queer as Folk (US) RPF
Genre: Lots and lots of dialogue, M/M, omgwtfrps, timeline: takes place during the shooting of early season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 04:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10690143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aschicca/pseuds/aschicca
Summary: If there’s somethingeveryonecan clearly understand when they meet Gale, it’s that he’s definitely not Brian Kinney.





	Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LJ in 2009. 
> 
> This is a work of complete fiction. I personally don’t know a thing about the people involved and everything described here comes from a twisted mind (my own obviously) and too much free time.

He’s not Brian Kinney.

If there’s something _everyone_ can clearly understand when they meet Gale, it’s that he’s definitely not Brian Kinney. They’re as distant as the moon from the sun. While Brian is sharp and straightforward, Gale’s is soft spoken and shy. Brian is a total label queen, Gale is happier when he can wear worn-out jeans and comfy white tees. Brian loves to flaunt himself in front of drooling admirers, Gale has a collection of baseball caps and sunglasses to hide behind. Brian is a slut, Gale is considerate; Brian has a terrible relationship with his family, Gale loves them… almost all the time.

Brian is gay and Gale… he’s not, is he? Everyone experiments in college, don’t they? This doesn’t make them gay. Gale’s left those experiments behind, he’s never thought about any of those guys anymore (not that there were more than three, mind you). So this is another trait he doesn’t share with Brian. Or is it?

To be completely honest, some of the things Brian is and has, appeal to Gale too. Like the Corvette, for example. Or the ability to come out with witty, sarcastic – but in the end truthful – remarks. Or, you know, Justin.

Every time this thought enters his mind, Gale can’t help but laugh imagining Randy’s reply to this.

(“Justin? You’re kidding, right?”

“He’s not _that_ bad, Rands.”

“Isn’t he?”

“You really should cut the guy some slack. He tries his best, you know.”

“He should try his best at _kicking_ Brian’s ass instead of kissing it, Gale.”

“Well, Brian has a great ass, if I do say so myself…”

“Ha. Do you want a beer?”)

It really is funny that Gale likes both Brian and Justin a lot more than Randy does. It’s not that he can’t see their flaws, Gale thinks, it’s that he can also see their merits. And their weaknesses. 

But appreciating Queer as Folk’s main characters isn’t the point of all this. The point is that Gale is not Brian. He’s just not.

He used to be so good at shutting Brian off as soon as the director shouted “Cut!” It was so easy, as easy as eating a slice of pie. Gale is one thing, Brian is another.

It doesn’t make sense that now of all times, now that his scenes with Randy are really limited, now that Randy spends all of his time on set with that Gab, Rob or whatever – and yes, Gale’s well aware of Brian’s way to misspell Ian’s… no wait, _Ethan’s_ name. But Brian does that on purpose. Gale doesn’t. He _really_ can’t remember that guy’s name. Maybe ‘cause he never bothered to listen when people talk with or about him, but so what? – right now, Gale is starting to lose his ability to detach himself from Brian.

Like at the end of the scene they shot that evening. Justin, having just exposed Brian’s nephew’s lies, comes to Brian’s loft to give him back his shell bracelet, and ties it to Brian’s wrist. The director had wanted that particular action shot from five different angles, and so Randy had to tie that bracelet on Gale’s wrist again and again. And all the time, all Gale had to do was stand there and just look at Randy, like a lonely Brian would look at the Justin he had lost and missed. Gale, as Brian, stared at Randy, as Justin, for the best part of a half an hour. With longing, and pain, and regret, and desire.

How do you erase that expression from your face? How do you stop looking at Randy like he’s all you ever wanted, just like that? How do you stop being Brian wanting Justin?

_Why_ would you want to stop?

That’s the question that keeps Gale awake at night. Because, you see, the problem is less ‘why can’t I stop being Brian with a snap of my fingers’, and more ‘why can’t I stop wanting Randy when a scene is over.’

Even if, right now, the question in Gale’s mind should be ‘how will I spend the evening at Randy’s place without telling him everything?’ Gale found out since the beginning of the first season that there aren’t many things he can keep from Randy. Or that Randy can’t understand just looking at him. 

The night promises to be interesting to say the least.

*** 

“Hey.”

“Hey, Rands. I brought pizza.”

“Good, I have the beer. Come in, and settle on the sofa. I’ll be right back.”

Gale complies and, after setting the box of pizza on Randy’s coffee table and sitting himself on Randy’s couch, he takes up the remote control and starts surfing through channels. He’s trying to act nonchalant, but his attention is fixed on the noises Randy’s making in the kitchen.

“Here’s your beer.”

So much for paying attention to Randy… Gale hadn’t realized that Randy had come back from the kitchen and so the sound of his voice, suddenly so close, makes him jump visibly.

“Are you okay, Gale? You seem a little… weird.” 

‘Great job, Harold,’ Gale thinks. ‘You arrived not even ten minutes ago and you’re already screwed.’

“Fine,” He replies out loud. And Gale is proud to say that he blurted out this single word calmly and looking into Jus… fuck, _Randy’s_ blue eyes.

“Good. Let’s eat, then.”

Okay, so maybe Randy’s not _that_ onto him like he always says. Or is that Justin? Shit, this can’t be good.

“D’u ont u och a uvie?”

“Uh?”

Gale watches in fascination while Randy swallows the mouthful of pizza he was trying to talk around, and is still staring at Randy’s mouth when he talks again.

“Sorry, I asked if you wanted to watch a movie,” and then Randy smiles. 

_Then I knew why Debbie calls you Sunshine._

For a moment, Gale’s terrified of having said that out loud. But he hadn’t, he couldn’t have, or Randy would be busy ripping his balls off for having called him ‘Sunshine’, and instead he’s still sitting calmly, waiting for Gale to… do what?

“Uh?” His inner Brian is rolling his eyes.

“All right, Gale, spill. What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting weird around me since a couple of weeks now. No one else has noticed anything, but I know you. Tell me.”

Gale knows he should deny it, say something funny and steer the conversation somewhere else. He knows that. Apparently his mouth doesn’t though, because suddenly… he’s blurting out everything.

“How do you turn off your character when a scene is over?” Shit!

“Uh?” There’s a great satisfaction, Gale thinks, in knowing he’s not the only ‘eloquent’ one.

“Justin. How do you stop being Justin?”

“With great pleasure, believe me.” Gale notices, maybe for the first time, that there’s some kind of affection in Randy’s words, well hidden obviously and with the distaste still prominent. But it’s like Randy doesn’t hate Justin, he just would like to smack some sense into him.

“I’m serious, Rands. After a scene, you know, one of those when you have to be _there_ and not think about the laundry or your plans for the night while shooting, how do you just shrug Justin off and forget what you felt?”

“It’s acting, Gale. I’m not feeling all Justin feels, not really. It’s just… yeah, it’s just acting.”

Randy doesn’t feel what Justin feels. He doesn’t and so he doesn’t have troubles shutting off the character he plays. That’s how he does it. That’s how it’s done. That’s how _Gale_ himself did it not too long ago.

What does this mean for Gale, now? If he can’t get rid of Brian that easily anymore, does this mean he’s starting to feel what Brian feels? Especially what Brian feels for Ran… Justin?

“Gale? You still there?”

“Yeah. I was just… thinking, you know? I was just… asking myself about it and thought to ask you too. To, you know, understand how you do that.” 

“And how do you do that? Turning Brian off?”

“I don’t believe they’ve invented a way to turn Brian _off_ yet.” Good, if he still can joke than there’s still hope for Gale to leave Randy’s house without making a complete fool of himself.

Randy playfully smacks Gale for his joke, and _that_ smile is back again on his lips. “Come on, I’m serious. You said you had been thinking about it, so now I want to know too.”

Gale thinks he probably should fake a blinding headache and run like the wind, but he knows Randy. He won’t stop nagging until Gale will answer his question. And Gale is tired to keep these thoughts for himself. Maybe, he thinks, if he tells Randy about them, they’ll stop troubling him at night. Maybe they’ll stop troubling him at all.

“I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

“Uh uh. I… you see… this Brian thing it’s… you know… I just, I just don’t.”

“Are you trying to tell me I’m about to have to watch you start behaving like an asshole and whoring you out to complete strangers?” To be fair, Randy sounds more amused than worried while saying all this.

“No, ‘course not. I don’t have problems getting rid of those traits.”

“Then what traits do you have problems with?”

“The Justin thing.”

“The what?”

“You know, the… you know. What Brian feels for Justin…”

“Are we talking about the same Brian here, Gale, because I’m starting to have doubts. Brian’s _feelings_ for Justin? They’re not even together anymore!”

“Yes, because Justin left him!”

“He didn’t leave him, Gale! Brian fucked that guy dressed like Rage in front of him to shut him out! _Brian_ kicked Justin in the face and forced him to leave with Ethan! And I can’t believe you’re making me defend Justin!”

“Brian had to do that. Justin couldn’t decide for his own… Brian had to help him. Okay, don’t rip out my throat, I know Brian didn’t exactly choose the best of ways…”

“Understatement of the year.” Gale would have found Randy’s tone amusing if he hadn’t been so keen in making him understand what Brian felt for Justin. What _Gale_ felt for Justin. For Randy…

“…but he loves Justin! Remember a few weeks ago when we shot that scene in the loft? The one where you… I mean, Justin, goes to Brian to talk about tuition and Brian gives him back his computer? You can’t tell me that wasn’t love, Rands!”

“Maybe it was. But I saw it more like control to be honest.”

“Control?”

“Yeah, the whole ‘take the computer _I_ bought for you when you couldn’t draw, bring it in your new life, and remember who gave it to you and helped you out. Oh and while you’re at it, start working with Michael again so there’ll be another bond between us’. That kind of thing.”

“No, he… okay, maybe he wanted that too but… he loves him, Rands. I… he loves Justin. I feel… he feels it.”

“That’s twice you said ‘I’ here, Gale. Care to explain?”

“You said it yourself, Rands. You can stop being Justin in a heartbeat because you don’t feel what he does. I just… I… fuck, how do I say this? I… can’t stop being Brian when I’m around you. What does this mean?”

“If you’re about to tell me you’re in love with Justin, I may have to reconsider our friendship. Or, your IQ.”

“He’s not that bad, Rands! But I’m not in love with him. Well, I love his smile, his eyes, his hair, his voice…” And with that, Gale feels he’s said enough. He isn’t that much of a talker anyway and he has probably talked his month-worth of words that night. No one could really demand that he keeps saying all this while Randy is looking at him in that way. First with shock, then in understanding and finally… hope?

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Gale? No? How about you’re not gay?”

“I experimented in college.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I said I experimented in college, but that doesn’t make me gay, does it?”

“I wouldn’t know. But I guess it doesn’t. There’s one thing that could though. Make you gay, that is.”

“What thing?”

“This.” 

And that, right there, is the moment when Gale found his way back to ‘how to get rid of Brian easily’ land. Because for all the kisses Brian and Justin had exchanged, they had never come close to _this_. Brian had never felt _Randy’s_ mouth on his, hesitant at first almost like Randy was afraid he had gotten it all wrong, then more sure, stronger, firmer… delicious. Justin’s kisses are nothing compared to Randy’s.

Gale is not Brian Kinney. He doesn’t want what Brian had. He has everything he wants now, and doesn’t need anything else. He has Randy.

His inner Brian smirks.


End file.
